“I think the first goal, that was a really weak goal for me,” said Halak, who was pulled in the game against the Americans. “I think that kind of set the tone for the rest of the period for us. If we’re going to blame somebody, I’ll take the full blame for this loss.”

Slovakia wraps up round-robin play on Sunday against Russia. After Russia’s shootout loss to the United States, that’s not looking like an appealing match-up for a team that’s looked off-kilter in their first two games.